2024 Press Releases

After sweeping the VX One class in his boat Far Side in 2023 to finish with a massive 25-point lead over second place, John Porter is back in town ready to do it again. Porter (Savannah, GA) grew up sailing in the Charleston area with a bunch of buddies on Sunfish. "We were ten-year-old kids racing around with our moms freaking out! " Porter laughed.

Porter, who competed in three U.S. Olympic trials and is a two-time U.S. National, North American Champion and a four-time U.S. Sailing Team member heading into the 1996 Olympic Games, is still very much racing around, having enjoyed solid midwinter racing this past season on the VX One in Florida taking a lot of seconds.

A cool benefit to Charleston Race Week's new location aboard the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point is that the event now has plenty of space to expand its activities on board the ship including representation from community-based sailing organizations such as Charleston Community Sailing, Veterans on Deck, and the College of Charleston Sailing.

On the beautiful Charleston Harbor, community sailing is also having its day in the sun during Charleston Race Week. The organization Warrior Sailing has two boats competing in the Pursuit class fielding a team in Pursuit Non-Spinnaker racing on a Jeanneau 43, and in Pursuit Spinnaker B a second team competing on a J95, for a total of twelve veterans from around the country sailing on the two boats.

Warrior Sailing is a nationwide program that teaches wounded, ill, or injured veterans how to sail; people with any sort of disability from cancer survivors to spinal cord injuries who have served in the US military can attend.

Growth across one design fleets draws top level sailors

Charleston, SC - April 15, 2024 - Sailors, boats, families, and friends are rolling into town for their first major regatta of 2024: Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point. In some one-design classes where competitors have lined up against each other during winter racing, CRW is often a time for retribution and to set the wheels in motion for the 2024 racing season.

Trevor Parekh, on the VX One Bro Safari has been chasing John Porter on Far Side, in the Florida winter series after losing to Porter at CRW last year. Parekh, who races with his best friend Marc Farmer, said, "We went back and forth with John all winter, and after taking second last year, we are totally prepared to apply what we learned and take it to the limit. There's only one option for us, and that's to win! I absolutely love Charleston Race Week; I love the city, I love the complexity of the racecourse, I love all my friends, and I love the Goslings after-race party – it's an all-in-one for me."

With twenty-eight boats signed up, Porter knows it's going to be tough to defend his title. Last year, he raced with his Olympian training partner David Himmel (Finn, 1992), and this year he'll be racing with his son Collin, 24.

The VX One Class continues to push the envelope in race management and at Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point 2024, it will once again implement Vakaros RaceSense technology. For sailors in other classes looking to catch a glimpse of this technology, the Charleston Race Week Pro-Am event on Saturday evening of the regatta will also use RaceSense to run races from the deck of the USS Yorktown.

Event director Randy Draftz, said, "One of Charleston Race Week's goals is to have sailors leave better than they arrived. Using Vakaros' technology and data to improve one's performance is a great step in that direction." Vakaros' revolutionary RaceSense technology has been used at over one hundred events worldwide over the past year, from the recent Etchells World Championship to Kiel Week in Germany and local club racing around the world. Last year's Charleston Race Week was one of the first events to implement this technology, equipping the RS21 fleet and PRO Chip Till with what was then a brand-new innovation in sailing.

April 18-21, 2024

Charleston, SC – April 4, 2024 - The countdown for the much-anticipated Charleston Race Week 2024, which starts in just two weeks, is underway. Sailors are gearing up for an exhilarating competition with entries spanning 16 classes, including a robust turnout in one-design fleets: 41 J/70s, 26 VX Ones, and 16 Melges 24s.

Building upon 2023 and the regatta's first event aboard the USS Yorktown, Charleston Race Week will expand its festivities aboard the historic aircraft carrier at Patriots Point. Participants and guests will enjoy access to the entire vessel, which will be complemented by award-winning Southern Bear Catering, Gosling's cocktails, beer from Westbrook Brewery, and live music. The ship's 280-seat cinema will host daily race debriefs, continuing the event's legacy of camaraderie and learning.

If you’re a Melges 24 team that hasn’t signed up for Charleston Race Week, what are you waiting for? Melges 24 sailors LOVE CRW...

Read on & register now at Yachtscoring.

Sailboat racers have been having a blast on the Melges 24 for over 30 years and the boat’s popularity is as hot as ever, as Peter McClennen, from Newport, RI, can attest. A relative newcomer to the Melges 24 since 2020, McClennen also races VX One, Melges 20, J70s, C&C 30 OD, and the IC37. However, he loves the challenge that the M24 brings to the party.

“For me, the Melges 24 has been a project of learning the boat,” he said. “The M24 slots in between a number of similar boats I sail but no boat I sail brings the complexity of the helming position even close to the Melges 24. While similar with the asymmetrical kite and powerful sail plan to the other boats I sail, the M24 is very different than all of those boats and that’s what keeps it interesting!”